Room is fine 11061 is a bit noisy but great size butler &maid Dining & tour arrangement a 3rd rate low price Cruise line disaster. Tour changed with no notification (some attendees, not all received notification 2 days in advance. WE DID NOT) from am to pm thereby not allowing time to dress for cocktail party & attend dinner reservation at speciality restaurant. The restaurant refused to change reservation 2 @ any time ! Reservations made online weeks ago for a very special birthday. Birthday when attempting to confirmed with Butler upon boarding I was informed my reservation was for the ninth not the tenth but he assured m we no problem as long as we were flexible with time. Tried to confirm planned birthday celebration at Jacques 2 day in advance informed I was on waitingist THANK YOU VERY MUCH Not even Carnival abuses multu repeat crusiersj. Oh wonderful !!just learned Port of Monte Carlo will be cancelled Read Less

Superb Customer Service / Care by the crew and staff. Excellent time keeping on destinations albeit the weather issues for Monte Carlo. Food and Dinning is an experience to behold. State Rooms were spacious and clean. State Room attendants were sharp in maintaining room cleanliness and comfy. Excellent nightly shows and programs to keep us occupied. Daily updates through door notes and announcements were clear and precise. Gym ,Sauna and Steam Room were well equipment , well maintained and convenient for use.Daily Breakfast is a much awaited session with a superb array of dishes palatable to various nationalities need. Daily Lunch buffet spread is not only lavish is also delightfully a look forward to episode. Dinner ,hmmm what to say ,the fine dining is a time of pamper with a varied cuisine. Coffee and Teatime is quintessentially memorable time , decor of lounging area makes it all the more lovely. Thank you Oceania Cruise, it was a lifetime memorable trip. Thank you thank you thank you. Read Less

More than a disappointment, we felt duped! Jacques Pepin should be ashamed. Our seven day cruise on the Marina ended as efficiently as it began- no more no less. The cruise experience was Applebee’s food on a fair airport hotel on the water. Embarkation was efficient, but cold. Not one crew member or staff member smiled during the entire seven days we were on board! Only our cabin steward Anna welcomed us, but she did not explain anything about the veranda cabin we were assigned to. She, like most of crew members spoke minimal English or, if they did, seemed not to acknowledge us with anything other than a blank nod. Let’s start with the cabin: large bed was only comfortable amenity on the cruise. A stained carpet welcomed us. The bathroom had a huge bathtub that was impossible to get in and out of for people over the age of 50; we had to use the minuscule shower which had a nozzle that spouted water everywhere in the bathroom, and the portable showerhead if dropped, could break your toe. The hairdryer was vintage 1980, weighed at least 8 pounds, and looked like it has seen many many heads. The fake leather brochure holders were chipped, and it took us two days to discover that on the bedside were books to inform us about the amenities of the cruise and they were impossible to release from there receptacle. Breakfast room service did not allow us scrambled eggs, omelettes or bacon, just pastries, breads, juice, fruit salad, yogurt. The bread and bagels were stale; the pastries felt like rocks; the yogurt came in a “Toy Story” paper container and the fruit salad appeared to be cubed Dole canned fruit salad and was both tasteless and disgusting looking. The restaurant service was impossibly disorganized. We never never knew who our waiter was and we never saw one staff person more than once in the “Grand” Dining Room.The sommelier was surly or pompous or both. And not one of the servers seem to understand English; they either ignored us or walked away when we spoke to them. Only one restaurant staff was pleasant and that was in the Red Ginger restaurant. The rest of the kitchen serving staff, especially in Terrace Buffet, seemed to be automatons, roaming around, not knowing what to do or where to go. They certainly weren’t serving anyone either politely or in a welcoming manner. As for the so-called gourmet food, he buffet were plentiful but everything seemed to be just defrosted from a large refrigerator; it was pretty cold and tasteless. The sushi were like like pellets and desserts overly sweet. The Grand Dining Room was anything but grand. The meat was tough; the portions impossibly small and often lukewarm and bland or overly spiced. After dinner we felt we’d rather have had a hamburger. There was no attempt to math the buffet food with the port local cuisine/(We had a Mexican buffet the secon night out of Venice. The specialty restaurants all had snooty servers and slow inattentive service. Again, the meat was tough; the lobster had never seen Maine and, all in all, we felt they thought we were privileged to eat there when in fact we had much better food in off ship in port then we had on the cruise Jacques really should be ashamed! In contrast, last year we had spectacular cruise on Azamara; we felt like we were welcomed as family and friends Oceania particularly sends us huge amounts of brochures every weekend in our newspaper and then our mail. They are spending more money on advertising then they are on their ships - very sad. The most frustrating thing about the cruise was the so-called “free Wi-Fi” Oceania only allowed one Wi-Fi account per cabin. My husband and I are very computer savvy. He brought his tablet. I have an iPhone and a Kindle, and we had to log out of each device before the other person could login any other device It was very frustrating to find how to login and how to log out as we were given vague, then confusing directions, and we spent way too much time discovering that it was just a pain to do so. For a ship of this size the access and quality of the Wi-Fi was miserable. Even the feedback survey that Oceania wanted us to fill out about the cruise was difficult to reach online and so we never sent this critique to them. We are broadcasting this critique on all travel websites to alert people how disappointed we felt about this cruise. We’re hoping that Oceania will indeed respond. We feel we wasted both time and money and caution all of you not to believe the hype. Read Less

We would give this cruise a top star rating. The food, service, rooms, scheduling,and communication were all well planned and exceeded our expectations! The staff were willing to meet your every need. Our room staff even spoke to us by name and were so sweet. The food was more than we could have imagined offering us the opportunity to try many varied types of meals. The evening shows were fun sharing tunes most of us were familiar with. The fitness area offered a variety of equipment and classes which kept us healthy and fit. The cruise director was engaging and kept everyone well informed of upcoming events. The captain kept a prompt schedule even through some tough winds which we won’t forget. Our luggage was taken care of efficiently with little concern. As this was my first cruise I will consider this again some time in the future. Thank you for a job well done! Read Less

We selected the Oceania Sirena because of timing for our 4 back to back European cruises. Over on the QM2, then Viking, then Oceania. The Oceania Sirena is a beautiful jewel box of a ship, just beautiful. The cabin was small for a concierge verandah, bathroom was ridiculous. Saw many guests going to the spa in bathrobes to shower daily. Linens and bed wonderful. After paying $13k for a cruise on this ship we expected a shower we could stand in. Finally left the shower door open and mopped up the water that spilled out. The cuisine was top rate. Best so far of the three ships. The service was spotty, ie rare refills of coffee, no refill offered on wine many nights at dinner, constantly asking waiters for condiments, etc. The Martini bar service was excellent. The service in the Horizons bar was terrible. The specialty restaurants were delicious and beautifully served. The pool grill service was spotty as well, undercooked burgers, etc. The entertainment started at 9:30 and after long excursions each day were were too tired to attend. We had one rough day and decided to stay on the ship. There’s very little to do except the pool. Library was great. No coffee pot in the rooms. Last boat had a nespresso machines in the room and QM2 had a kettle. Cabin attendants were wonderful. We both said the personnel were not terrible friendly. Just doing their job. The string quartet was great. Tony the pianist was wonderful as well. Paulo in the excursion office was great. Very helpful. The cooking class at the farm house near Rome was great. The other ports when we were on our own were fun but a shuttle bus or boat was not provided by Oceania. The port shuttles are seedy and dirty. No shuttle boat in Venice back and forth from St. mark’s Square. Getting on the ship was iffy. No sign out in front of the cruise terminal in Barcelona. The dock had been reassigned and we were notified by email of the change but when we go out of our taxi, in Barcelona, we were not sure we were in the right place. One person was checking passports in a long line, then we went to another long line with two people checking our papers, then through security and to a large room with many personnel checking people in. So much for priority embarkation. I noticed one passenger in a wheelchair waiting to embark and he sat for over 30 minutes in the sun waiting for arrangements for a lift. The spa was great but heard they are changing from Canyon Ranch. All in all we had a great time and made grand friends. We loved the itinerary and going into smaller places like Sicily and Montenegro. The tender staff did a great job and we always felt safe on the ship. Thanks Oceania but we won’t try it again. Read Less

My wife and I plus best friends wanted a Mediterranean cruise. Our travel agent recommended Oceania cruises. Smaller ship with upscale rooms and dining. This sounded great and the itinerary hit all the spots we had on our wish list. Flew into Nice France 2 days early to explore all was great, would like to visit with more time. Boarded the boat in Monte Carlo and have to say it is lovely and our room on the concierge level was as described. Bathroom was roomy and the cabin as a whole met our expectations. 12 day cruise with 10 days in port of call. We had a tour scheduled for every port of call. We only used Oceania tours, pricey but easy to arrange. Overall we are happy BUT...some of the group tours didn’t have the electronic listening devices so we had to stop and huddle. Very annoying with 30 people. We had a small tour in Jerusalem and it was amazing, guide was great and only 10 people, highly recommend the small tours if the budget allows. As most reviews note the entertainment on board is not great but after touring each day we were tired so This didn’t impact our review of the cruise. Dining, very nice as advertised. The one area of dining that was disappointing was the steak house. The steaks were average at best with a limited selection. Overall the dining experience was very good. The primary reason we selected the concierge level room was so we could have a full breakfast in the mornings before our early morning tours. Meals was delivered on time and were great. Now you might be wondering why only 1 star. After a long day, We went to supper then to bed exhausted because of a 7am tour departure the next morning. When we awoke, showered and dress then we straightened the room. To our aghast one of the pillows was stained with thick brown material on 1 side. My wife thought I fell asleep with chocolate in my mouth. I assured her I didn’t because the chocolate was still on my nightstand. After she realize what this”stuff” was she was sick. We took pictures then wrote a note which we placed on top of the pillow. We went to our 7am tour and figured management would contact us. We returned and no note or anything acknowledging our issue. We went to the concierge in main entrance, the gentleman’s general attitude didn’t set will with me but he stated he would have staff contact us. Later 2 officers? that oversee room staff came to our room to discuss. They stated they saw our note and the pillowcase. They could not explain how this happened and said they were sorry and promised to get back with us. Never heard from them again. Upon our return we wanted to contact Oceania to discuss our incident. We contacted our agent for executive contact information, she asked why and we explained and shared the pictures. She was appalled and offered to share our story with Oceania, we thought this was great of her to do this. After a long delay finally here is part of Oceania’s response to the travel agent... “As a matter of reference, our stewards arrange the pillows during the day, as well as during turndown service. Therefore, we believe there is no way that this dirty pillowcase would not have been noticed by the steward the night prior. Moreover, we are confident to say that none of our housekeeping staff would have place a dirty pillowcase on your clients’ pillows on purpose. Unfortunately, this rare and isolated eventuality remains a mystery to all of us, including our onboard Officers.” To me this is saying we did this to the pillow case which is horrible. I haven’t asked for one single thing other than find out who did this to us and apologize. Oceania executives still haven’t contacted us so my review has to be a 1 star with a vow never to cruise with them again and never give them a positive review. PLEASE SEE MY PICTURE OF THE PILLOW.. Read Less

Marina is looking good as usual. Food was good to great. No real misses, everything is better than the mainstream lines. Ports were very good with 3 days in Isreal. Getting on the ship is amazing, 5 minutes at peak time. They processed everything on board, was a nice touch. The ship never feels overcrowded and laid out well. Ports were good. Ship tours thru O-Life Florence/Pisa, Rome, Capri, Cyprus. 3 great, Cyprus not much to see. Did our own thing in Isreal with rental car and hotel. Able to see everything we wanted! A few other Greek stops like Rhodes then disembark in Athens. Again very smooth disembark. Only negative would be we didn’t care for Red Ginger. Service was excellent just isn’t our taste. Tuscany and Polo great, Jacques very good. Main DR good a few great dishes. Again nothing bad. Terrace for lunch and once for dinner. Prefer dining room. Also room service was slow but that was likely because everyone was returning tired from Isreal. Older group and ship was in bed by 10, fine for us! Went for few lectures, they were very good. Didn’t go to any shows but heard the comedian was good. Overall great cruise, great service. A notch below luxury but above the norm. Read Less

We sailed aboard Oceania Marina from Lisbon to Monte Carlo Sept 29 – to Oct 6 2019. Our expectations and excitement for the journey as well as the Marina were high based on much research and Oceania’s marketing. Our cruise experience was not five star/luxury, intimate, personal, or warm. Cabin and Concierge Service Cabin service was average, but not personalized or attentive beyond usual clean up and prep. Examples: used more than one bucket of ice nightly, but always had to ask for second one. Superior service would have inquired proactively. Turn down service often clashed with when we were preparing for dinner (8:30p reservations). Superior service would have had our reservation schedule and worked the evening cabin duties accordingly. The patio cushions were removed in the evening but not replaced in the morning. Our attendant and assistant were both pleasant, but seemed to have too large a base to serve for the entire trip. Per Oceania’s marketing, we expected more focused attention (smaller crew to passenger ratio). Concierge service was lacking. Although attended, not welcoming or personalized, even though we used service daily. Recognition and acknowledgement would have elevated the experience. Deck door between our cabin deck and our neighbor’s cabin deck was not secure/firm and would rattle and clunk during the night. Food and Beverage Service Drink service at bars was often slow regardless of number of patrons. Bartender acknowledgement, even if busy with other tasks, is expected and was rarely given. Weather was warm, and deck service was never offered on the three occasions I chose to utilize the various areas, to include spa terrace, main pool area, and conversation areas. We dined at Waves Grill for lunch three times and the steak and lobster was superb, as was the ahi tuna. The other sandwiches were average. Waves Grill table service was lacking. Water service was immediate, but bar service was slow and inattentive. It also lacked personalization. I had a premium beverage package and ordered wine with lunch with ice. Never was I recognized or asked proactively if I wanted wine again with ice – this would have been superior service and not just average service. Sommelier service in the buffet was slow as well, but only used it on the first day. It is noted the buffet table service on the port side of the Terrace Buffet was far superior to what we experience elsewhere (breakfast). Red Ginger was superior in service and food quality. Barristas was very good as well, but table service in the library would have been excellent/superior (or at least to be asked once settled). Jacques food quality was lacking. Lamb was overcooked, sent back, and overcooked again. In fact the waiter even mentioned that my barely pink lamb was indeed medium rare versus offering something different or even preparing again, which I would have expected from Superior service. Sommelier service was good/attentive. Our first Grand Dining room service seem strained. Our waiter indicated 9p couldn’t come soon enough. Service throughout the evening wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t excellent. I had to ask for refill of wine when needed. Our second Grand Dining experience was similar to our first. The escargot was very good, lobster bisque lacked any indication of lobster, and crème brulee was grainy and of a pudding/undercooked consistency rather than custard. Table service did not inquire why it wasn’t eaten or if it was satisfactory or if we wanted something else. Superior service would have been more aware of our experience. Tuscany grill was average for food quality, sommelier service, and table service. Not bad, but not 5 star. Our last night was Polo Grill. Initial table service was commendable, but bar service and sommelier was extremely anxious and stressed and virtually non existent, even as the volume of people diminished (we had 830 reservations and were there at 825). Had to ask repeatedly for wine/refill and table service seemed not to know our understand how our experience was going or being paced to facilitate beverage/wine service – they did not seem to partner with the sommelier or kitchen very well. We were virtually ignored for an hour by our table service (other than water). The main course never came and no one spoke to us about delays or gave any indication that they were even aware of delays. Around 9:30 my husband sought the maître de and still no one came to talk to me or refresh my service. By 9:40, I was upset and left the restaurant with my husband in order to pack and prepare for departure tasks. Only at that time did there seem to be any concern about our service and experience. Although apologies were given and alternatives offered, at that time is was far too disappointing and too late to repair. Other Services/Activities I had planned on using the artist’s loft (one of the reasons I chose Marina), but it was never attended nor any products or amenities available to use other than the 4p class which conflicted with excursion timing. A self service option would have been lovely to use for sunset sketching or morning activity. Summary: After much research, I chose Oceania because we enjoy a casual, resort environment with outstanding amenities, focused service, and five star cuisine and culinary experience. The service and quality aboard Marina was inconsistent and impersonal, not superior or intimate. I am very disappointed to have paid more than twice what I have on other cruise lines while experiencing less service, quality, attentiveness, and appointments (including Celebrity, Carnival, and A-Rosa River cruises). It is noteworthy to mention I have not received a follow up directly or indirectly from Oceania for feedback as of 17 October (11 days after disembarkation). Read Less

We really like the quiet atmosphere of Oceanic - very few children, not a lot of loud music. The pool area stays relatively quiet. The food is, for the most part, very good - especially in the specialty restaurants. We had the wine and beer package, which allows beer and wine by the glass at meals. It was adequate. I would suggest they add a couple of WBTG at each restaurant to complement the food. Our cabin was wonderful - Penthouse Suite. Roomy and comfortable. Rahul the butler and Danelia the housekeeper were friendly and efficient. You get hors d-ouvrves each afternoon, which was nice, but they weren't great. The only noise from above was late at night, and it was minor. Every stop on the Iberian Quest itinerary was fabulous - just beautiful. However, Oceania's excursions can vary in quality. We had some very good ones - Cadiz, Provence - and one unsatisfactory one. We had booked the spa trip to Granada, but it was changed to Malaga. Also lunch was not provided. Oceania did provide a 25% refund after we complained. Marina is a pretty ship with great food and service. My observation is that Oceania's passengers are trending older, (I mean really older) so if you want a more lively atmosphere, try another line. We would definitely return to this area of the world, but maybe on our own or with Celebrity. Read Less

This was our 6th Oceania Cruise, 3 on each Riviera and Marina. This size of ship suits and have not tried the smaller ones. We booked our flights independently and flew to Lisbon on the day of the cruise arriving at the terminal about 11am, had a quick coffee at the coffee shop next to the cruise terminal and a Pasteis de Nata which was delicious. Embarkation was quick and efficient and we were on board by midday. Included in our package was the Classic drinks package which we upgraded to the Prestige package as soon as we got on board, this cost was $20pp per day which was quickly used up after having one glass of champagne, so upgrading is definitely worth it. Headed to the pool bar for a pre-lunch drink then headed to The Terrace for lunch. As usual the buffet was very good, the selection of food was very good and the service was excellent, plenty of staff and lots of sommeliers so no problem getting a drink. Our cabin was ready by 1pm so we headed down to have a look, we were located midships beside the lifts and stairs an ideal location. The cabin was in good order, plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, bathrooms were still as plush so we were very happy. The suitcases were already in the cabin when we went in so we quickly unpacked and headed back to the pool deck. Food in the GDR was very good and again the service was first class, attentive waiters and sommeliers, again no problem getting glasses topped up and we were often asked if we would like another bottle. We took advantage of the 4 speciality restaurants and these didn't disappoint, the food was excellent in each of the restaurants. What lets Oceania down is the poor entertainment, the production company were poor, weak singers and the guest entertainers were poor especially the comedy magician who was on twice and he was embarrassing to watch, the exception was the violinist and the group which played in Horizons. Oceania really need to up their game when it comes to entertainment, there was the usual Trivia in Martinis at 4:30 which is a pain if you want to have a drink as inevitably you need to keep quiet as this is taken very seriously by the teams playing. Oceania trips in my opinion and well over priced and would not book them. We had been to most of the ports with the exception of Alicante so we just did our own thing. We have embarked in Monte Carlo before but never disembarked there. It was a bit chaotic as there is only a very small area for collecting suitcases, this is outside and uncovered, so if it was raining it would have been a bit of a nightmare, also the number of cars in this small area was dangerous. We didn't see much of the Captain or Officers however overall this was an excellent cruise, we met many interesting people and look forward to our next Oceania Cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise for it's Spain-intensive itinerary and no at sea days. This turned out to be a mixed blessing, as we did private tours (Spain Day Tours, which we greatly recommend). All of the tours involved van/bus rides of 1-2 hours, and quite a bit of walking, so we were pretty tired and had no at sea days to recuperate and just enjoy the pool, spa, or the rest of the ship. This was our third Oceania cruise overall, and this time it was just me and my wife (no kid or parents). Even though we tend to keep to ourselves, we met a lot of amazing people during this cruise. At the specialty restaurants, we were required to share tables in order to get an earlier dining time. All of the people we met were modestly to wildly successful, loved to travel, and were a delight to spend an evening with! If you are this type of person, and aren't hypercritical about your room, food, etc. you are going to have a wonderful time on Oceania Marina. Just sit back and let it happen! Observations: - We didn't spend a lot of $$$ on alcohol. We did take advantage of happy hour drink prices at Horizon's, the captain's cocktail party, and discounted drinks each day at the pool (we only had time to use the pool twice though). - Free internet was greatly appreciated. I only used it to check personal email and do some photo editing. The wifi reception wasn't great in our room, but I'm an early riser and would go up for coffee and then sit with my laptop in the library where the connection was great. It's a charming and quiet place to sit. - There is no nickle and diming on Oceania to buy drink packages, buy photos, etc. Very relaxing. - There was more storage in our room than we needed. That was a first!! Unfortunately our oversize luggage wouldn't fit under the bed. - If pressed, we might have noticed a slight decline in the food quality since our previous Oceania visits. Friends we met on board thought so too and one had a pleasant conversation with the head chef about it. But we still enjoyed our meals immensely and this is not really a complaint. My favorite specialty meals seem to change every cruise. This time I liked Toscana the most; Polo Grill was my least favorite as my steak was just OK (loved the pork belly appetizer and the dessert sampler though!). - I would have liked to leave our balcony door open at night and sleep to the waves, but there is too much wind whistling for that. We slept very comfortably with the door closed. - There are plenty of hand sanitizing stations around the ship, and the staff won't let passengers serve themselves at the buffet (these are very good things!). The ship was spotlessly clean. We can't wait to go back to Marina or any other Oceania ship for that matter!!!! Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary. We did private party excursions at most of the stops. We very seldom will take the overpriced cruise line excursions. Most of the stops were places that we had not been. Yes, the rooms were small, but it's a small ship. We liked the size of the ship. This was our first time on the "R" class. We were in a concierge class veranda. We liked the location on the 7th floor. It was very quiet. The one area where we were most disappointed was with the two specialty restaurants. Some items at Red Ginger were fabulous, others not so much. At Tuscano it was service issues that ruined the meal. We were looking forward to the Olive Oil cart and the explanation of the different oils and vinegar. Instead the server served whichever olive oil she felt like serving with a splash of balsamic. No explanation or perhaps asking if you might like butter instead. Still waiting for my hot butter to go with my lobster. In summary, we felt the specialty restaurants were lacking in their attention to detail. In fact we cancelled our other reservations with them. That being said, we never had a bad meal in the main dining room Service was excellent. So, when I mark the "Very Good" for food, I am talking about the MDR. Because this was a port intensive itinerary, we did not do many activities after dinner. Read Less

My wife and I have just returned from our first, week-long Mediterranean cruise with Oceania on board the Sirena. We are quite experienced cruisers and wanted to try Oceania as an alternative to our usual shipping line and because the particular itinerary was interesting. The ship is very smart and comfortable but we found ourselves most confused by the system for charging drinks etc., which we felt was far too complicated and contradictory. At the time of booking, we purchased the House Select beverage package for US $39.95 each per day which gave us free wine, champagne or beer by the glass during lunch and dinner. According to the footnote in the brochure, this also included gratuities, which I assumed were to be distributed amongst the whole crew. Elsewhere in the brochure, it was stated that optional gratuities in the sum of US $16 per guest per day would be added to our shipboard account and that an additional 18% gratuity would be added to all beverage purchases, which are quite high in the first place with two vodka and tonics costing US $20, plus a $3.60 surcharge. I firmly expected that, having purchased the beverage package, these additional charges would not be levied. Although the daily charge was not applied, the 18% surcharge was applied to all drinks consumed outside of mealtimes. We were also very confused by the charging during Happy Hours, when I would have expected drinks to be half price, but it was a two drinks for the price of one arrangement and if we didn't want a large measure or second drink, then we were charged for two anyway. We really didn't want to have to make such complicated calculations whilst on holiday and, after discussing the issue with the Reception staff, made a written complaint. I was then invited to meet with the Food and Beverage Manager who explained that the gratuities with the beverage package went mainly to the sommeliers and that the 18% surcharge on drinks went only to the bar staff themselves as they did not receive a salary. I must say that I am quite disgusted with this practice in this day and age and it certainly explained why some of the bar staff were rather pushy in wanting to serve the more expensive drinks in double measures so as to increase their income. It also explained why, as soon as the sommeliers realised that we were on the package, their level of service deteriorated drastically and it was often difficult to get a second glass of wine, particularly at dinner even when they were not particularly busy. The bar service was also quite slow most of the time. When I pointed out that gratuities were supposedly at the discretion of the guest and not a mandatory payment, the Manager offered to remove the surcharges from our account When we got home. our travel agent explained that Oceania is American owned and that gratuities are one of the problems with American owned cruise lines from a European perspective. The culture in America is one of tipping led by low base salary or even no salary at all. Given that most of the crew, including the senior officers, were either from Eastern Europe, Asia or Central America, one does start thinking about exploitation. I must say that on our previous cruises in American owned ships, we have never had any problems or queries regarding crew gratuities. Generally, the food was of good quality and Oceania pride themselves on offering high quality cuisine but we both felt that there was insufficient variety. Typically, lobster bisque was on the dinner menu in the main restaurant every evening and other items were often repeated. The two speciality restaurants, Tuscan and Red Ginger were excellent and extremely popular to the extent that it was not possible to get a second reservation in either during the course of the week. Getting ashore, particularly in tender ports was handled well and there were never any delays. The personalised World Card had a bar code which the gangway staff scanned when leaving and returning to the ship, which was most efficient. It was unfortunate that this automatic process did not extend to paying for drinks and the card had to be handed over to be manually swiped by the bar staff on every occasion. Although we enjoyed the cruise and ports of call, in the light of these experiences it is unlikely that we will cruise again with Oceania. Read Less

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. Watching all the boat traffic go back and forth while we were in Venice overnight was amazing. The ships location to Venice made it easy to get on and off and go to town. We felt same the entire time in Venice. The day we sailed out of Venice, Oceania had an expert on the 9th deck informing all on the 9th deck of building and landmarks we were seeing as we sailed past St Marks Square and he provided history about Venice, the surrounding islands, and spoke about rising waters in Venice and how the port authority was looking to handle the mass of cruise ships coming to Venice as to would they be able to port in town as they do now, or would they be forced to port further outside of town and the impacts to tourism this may cause. Very informative speaker. The ship handed out bottled water at every port as we got off. They had water when getting back on as well. The ports of Anacona, Bari, and Crotone were nothing great. I would rather have sailed to Croatia. Anacona, we rented a car and drove to San Marino. A little country nestled in Italy with its own Army and currency. Charming town but our day was limited to this one experience. Bari was the better of the three stops as we rented a car and drove to an olive grove which had excellent olive oil. We shipped it home and have ordered more upon returning home. Crotone was a ghetto in the looks of walking downtown from the port. We spent 5 minutes in town and walked back to the ship. Elba was beautiful and we went Scuba diving and spent time in town looking and shopping. Bought the famous perfume from Elba and love it! We rested on the ship the rest of the day. I read a book on our balcony and watched the people, cars and boat traffic to my delight. Taromina Sicily was nice. We took a taxi up to the town to go to the ancient amphitheater. The taxi was $25 one way. the town was charming, filled with people but not so much we couldn’t enjoy the sights and sounds. The walk to the amphitheater was somewhat long given the day was warm, but worth it. We stayed in town until 3:00 and took another taxi back. It wasn’t hard to find taxis either direction. Amalfi was to be out next port but due to rough waves we rerouted to Naples. We had been to Amalfi three years ago and were disappointed this time as we had to cancel a tour with a personal guide we had before. He understood and didn’t charge us anything. In Naples we decided to go to Pompeii as was the plan from Amalfi. We found a taxi driver outside the port and for $100 he drove us there and waited two hours while we toured Pompeii. He then dropped us off in downtown Naples at a recommended pizza restaurant. Pizza was wonderful and we dined outside eating with locals and visitors. Charming. Pompeii is vast and takes days to tour. Hope to return. Rome was our next port and we had seen Rome three years ago so we took the train from the port to Rome. The walk from the port to train station seemed far but when walking it back to the ship that evening it was a 15 minute walk. We walked 8 miles that day and saw what we wanted to see this trip. Trevi, had to throw my coins again, Vittorio Emanuele II Monument and climbed the steps for an AMAZING view of the city in all directions, Pantheon and we dined in the Piazza there. Portofino was a nice stop, and our second visit here. We walked the city. Not much to do unless you want to book a tour, go for a hike or boat tour. The city is charming and relaxing. An easy day for shopping and exploring spots not seen three years ago. Lost my drivers license and debit card while taking the tender over to Portofino. I think I lost it on the tender. I reported it to the Oceania staff manning the tender station in Portofino. They allowed me to go on all three tenders but I never located it. I immediately canceled my debit card online while sitting in Portofino. I also went to the local police and asked if it had been turned in but it hadn’t. Upon reboarding the cruise ship I informed the officer on deck 2 and he pulled up my name, which tender I was on and when I got on it to go into Portofino. He said they would look for it. The next day we arrived in Moscow the Carlo to get off the ship and I inquired with the reception desk and they had not received it. Five weeks passed and this week I got an envelope from Oceania in Miami with my drivers license! I was shocked yet I expected if it was found Oceania would mail it to me. This is the second time Oceania has come to my rescue. Two years ago we were on Sirena for 18 days from Tahiti to LA. I left an expensive camera lens in rental car in a tiny town, Huahine. Upon getting on the ship I realized I had left it in the rental car. The Oceania staff called the rental car and spoke French and they found the lens. The rental car company was going to ship it to our next port. Oceania said we may incur a $75 fee and I was fine with that. They said they would call to see if it was at the airport where we were sailing to and if so, they would send an employee to drive over and get it. It didn’t make it there nor the next port or the next one. However, a week after arriving home I received the camera lens via Fed Ex to my home. I can’t tell you how relieved I was. Oceania is amazing and it’s staff are amazing. Most other cruise ship staff wouldn’t go to this level of care and concern for its guests. Their staff are to be commended and I know Oceania costs more than other lines but you get what you pay for. The food was wonderful as always, the staff amazing and they truly want to know each guests and make an effort to do so. This goes for everyone from housekeeping, the wait staff and the officers. One restaurant staff member remembered us from two years ago! If you want to cruise with family then cruise with Oceania. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of an itinerary that included southern Italy, Greek Islands (including Santorini and Mykonos) and Venice. After we booked, the Santorini port was changed to Gythion. This was very disappointing since we considered Santorini an iconic Greek island that we did not want to miss. As it turned out, weather prohibited us from tendering into Mykonos, so we missed both of the islands we had been excited to see. The embarkation for the Sirena was very smooth and quick, with our luggage being delivered to the room very promptly. All of the crew and port staff were friendly and made us feel quite welcome. Our stateroom was an inside stateroom. The room was about the size you would expect, and had lots of storage. One drawback is that my husband's suitcase did not fit under the bed so he eventually shoved it under the desk area to get it out of the way. Although the room size was not bad, the bathroom size was very bad. My husband and I are both on the normal to slim side, and we could barely move around in the bathroom and the shower. We had to shut off the water in the shower in order to soap up and then turn it back on to rinse off. I hit my head on the cabinet above the sink when trying to brush my teeth. While it was less than comfortable for us, I cannot imagine how it would feel for those who are not normal to slim body types. The cabin steward did an okay job, although one evening he forgot to service our room at all. That meant we did not get an itinerary for the next day. It just so happens that there was a time change that evening. Even though he put the itinerary on the door the next morning along with a reminder for a spa appointment, we did not get them until later in the morning after we returned to our room. I ended up being an hour late for the spa because we had forgotten the time change. Room service was prompt and the food was good. We ate at the Terrace Café almost every morning and most days for lunch if we were onboard. The food was good and had good variety. We ate in the Main Dining room at night or at Red Ginger or Tuscan Steak. The recommendations of the staff turned out to be very good in most cases. All of the food was delicious. The entertainment...ugh! And the reason for the title of this review. The entertainment aboard the ship is very much geared to an older clientele. My husband and I are in our mid-fifties but found the entertainment to be way beyond our years. I am not talking about current pop or rock hits necessarily, but at least something that appeals to people below the age of 70! While we appreciate a string quartet every now and then, it would also be nice to have an area that offers more contemporary music in a more robust environment. Maybe a piano player that plays some more current music, please???There was a night of rock music, so we got our hopes up a bit, but the rock was played by the string quartet. Really?!?!? We had an unscheduled day at sea (when we missed Mykonos) and the first thing that the cruise director scheduled was a meeting of the needlepoint club. The cruise director was not the high-energy type of person you normally see on other cruise ships but the older clientele seemed to appreciate that and love it. We did enjoy a nice wine tasting, although the price was a bit steep ($75pp). We booked with the OLife Choice, and chose the free shore excursions. All of the ship excursions were run well and the guides were very knowledgeable. The excursions did seem to be priced quite high, and other than the free excursions, we only booked one other ship excursion and did the rest with outside companies. Overall, the experience was quite nice, with a high level of service and good food. Oceania's clientele seems to be an older (70+), affluent crowd and they do a good job catering to that crowd. So while we ate well and were treated very well, we found the boat to be a bit staid and too geriatric for us at this point in our lives. Read Less

We choose this as our first experience with Oceania, as it offered an itinerary to match an anniversary celebration. Travelling on a newly refurbished ship, and the marketing around service and food were deciding factors also. Up to now, we had only cruised Seabourn (4), Silversea (3), Crystal (1), Sea Dream (1). We enjoyed the cruise very much, but unfortunately some areas did disappoint. The marketing of this brand is excellent, but in my opinion, over promises in some areas, and under delivers in reality. THE SHIP The ship refurbishment in most areas was beautiful, but it was just a pity that they seemed to miss some areas. Specifically the Terrace restaurant which we found cramped in the buffet area, and the furniture and lighting is dated. The ambience was dreary. The serving areas very dated too. We would not sit inside, and were lucky to always find a space outside, albeit often sharing a table. All other dining venues were very pleasant on the whole, although personally we felt that the main dining room would have benefited from lighter window treatments, to make it a little more contemporary. Our penthouse suite was beautiful and I much preferred it to similar size accommodation on Seabourn/Silversea. You may have a smaller bathroom and no walk in closet, but storage was ample, and never using the bath, I appreciated the larger shower. We really enjoyed the width of the cabin and the light. All appointments were excellent. We visited a verandah concierge suite which was extremely cramped in my opinion. You have to remember that these ships are 20 years old, and even after refurbishment, they still don't come close to the modern style and layout of say the modern Seabourn and Silversea ones, with their wider spaces, light and modern stylish spaces. THE SERVICE We found the vast majority of staff to be cheerful and helpful The predominant asian waiting staff were efficient and cheerful, but sometimes things got lost in transition, and culturally it was not possible to build rapport over the week as we were able to do with the higher ratio of European staff on Seabourn/Silversea. Our butler was excellent and efficient. The cruise director - well.... he just made announcements and opened/closed the entertainment, and to be honest little else. A waste of a salary in my mind. I think that we must have been on auto pilot for much of the time also, because I have never been on a cruise with such invisible officers, if they actually existed. In fairness we did not go to the introduction evening, but usually officers interact, or are at least visible, throughout the cruise. This certainly did not happen. THE FOOD Ranged from average to excellent, but I'm sorry, Oceania most certainly does not offer the finest cuisine at sea. The Terrace restaurant was the biggest disappointment. Breakfast felt chaotic, and variety was lacking. We gave up on fresh egg orders, and those from the griddle. As with breakfast, the lunch variety was lacking. It looked good, until you realised that the buffet was a mirror image in parts with items repeated each side. I commend any attempt to reduce waste in buffet restaurants, but I also don't expect to be served basically everything and to be asked how many prunes I want, how many pieces of melon etc, not at the price we paid. This was annoying, and slowed everything down, adding to the chaos at times. Dining at the speciality restaurants was very enjoyable and we managed to change and secure extra reservations. Main dining room, was good - service extremely efficient. Waves grill was good, but again, lacked variety with the same menu board on the wall each day. Afternoon tea was excellent. In our opinion, the Terrace Restaurant should stay open 30 minutes longer for lunch and dinner. It would make a big difference to the feeling of being rushed, and having to rush in to get dishes before they closed. On the food side, I expected a lot more I'm afraid. PORTS All good and arrival/departure was handed well. EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION All efficient and quick. On reflection, we would possibly choose Oceania again, but only in a penthouse suite, and with more realistic expectations around service and food. Read Less

We booked this trip because each day we were visiting a different port which we had not been to before. Embarkation was relaxed and very straight forward in Monaco. Our penthouse suite was beautiful. We normally book larger suites on similar ships but found the size, bathroom with large shower and wardrobe space more than adequate. I believe the ship had been recently refurbished and looked lovely throughout. We ate in Red Ginger and Tuscan both of which were really good. We took afternoon tea on a few afternoons where we enjoyed trolley service for sandwiches, cake and tea along with the string quartet. We found dining in the main dining room a little disappointing. The menu choice was not as good as other cruise lines we have used. Quite often the service was slow for food and drinks. We felt that the waiting staff seemed to have little direction, and we were normally not aware of any management involvement. We enjoyed lunch and breakfast buffet dishes. Once again the service was not consistent. We also noticed that the better wines/champagne appeared to start running out on day 2 which was disappointing. Perhaps we could understand this towards the end of a cruise but not at the beginning. Our room stewards and butler did a great job of looking after us and kept the suite immaculate. We enjoyed the entertainment and felt they did a good job and there was a fair amount of variety for a small ship. We did not do any port excursions as it was so easy to wonder around seeing the sights on our own. Disembarkation was the quickest and easiest we have ever experienced. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was stopping at Bordeaux for 2 nights. We were in a Concierge cabin and enjoyed our cruise apart from a few concerns. In the pas we have always had bottled mineral water which we prefer.but now they are offering their own bottled Filtered water (Vero). Not quite the same! We decided to take advantage of the free laundry service. This was a disaster as the items were returned with yellow stains! They offered to reimburse us with onboard spend for one of the badly stained items. This we felt was unacceptable so they refunded on the last day via our final bill.This was a 14 day cruise and we were only offered 4 Speciality Dining reservations which is the same as for a 7 day cruise. We found at these restaurants that unless you agreed to share a table you had to accept a later booking and often missed the shows which were mainly good. Most of the excursions were good apart from the Wine tasting in a vineyard at St Emillion. We were only offered two small amounts of the same wine from different years! Our cabin attendant kept our cabin very clean and looked after us well. Also, the ship docked very near the centre of Bordeaux which was great. We still like the ship but were disappointed with some of the things mentioned above Read Less

Have travelled on Sirena once before and also on Oceania's Riviera. Service on board apart from the drinks service was excellent. Food sadly was a let down. We sent back a total of five main courses. The menu at the Grand Dining Room had shrunk considerably from our last cruises. Red Ginger and Tuscan Steak House menu's haven't changed in the past four years. Ports of call were handled well as was embarking and disembarking. We had the beverage package which is clumsily handled. Firstly you cannot buy prior to cruising, you have to buy on board which means queuing to request then the re issue of your cabin key card. Stupid. The staff have to retrieve your card and swipe it after you order your drink. It is hard enough finding a wine waiter in the first place and even harder to get one to swipe your card. Viking do it so much better were each staff member carries a hand held device that has your picture, room no, any packages etc. Once they confirm your room number that's it. Far, far better. Please look at my cabin review. Read Less

We enjoyed Oceania on past cruises, especially the specialty restaurants, the smaller ship sizes and the service. Other cruise lines are cheaper, but the crowds are larger and the food is not as good as Oceania. Our cruise was 19 days and covered a number of ports we had previously been to, but we wished to visit Turkey, Israel and Cyprus. Embarkation at Port Piraeus, Athens ran smoothly. It took less than 30 minutes and we were on the ship. We find the ship is always clean in the public areas, the staff are extremely helpful and pleasant and enjoy a bit of banter. We found this time there were a number of passengers travelling with children. Sadly they are unsupervised around the dining areas and like to run up and down the halls during the day. I realise it is not the staffs responsibility to control them, but this can ruin it for others. We used the ship's excursions a couple of times which were quite good. I think next time we will organise our own excursions. It is most frustrating when people wonder off and forget the time, whilst everyone else is waiting at the bus. The onboard entertainment is not something we go to see. The band at the pool were playing a couple of times, and I thought they were pretty useless. Would have been better with just come music playing rather than a band. Disembarkation at Barcelona, Spain was super easy. We walked off the ship and all the bag were waiting downstairs. Plenty of taxis waiting to take departing passengers to hotels, airports etc. Read Less

We've cruised extensively with Oceania starting with the Riviera maiden season in 2012. We were thrilled to have found Oceania as it met a niche for us that other cruise lines we had tried did not. Unfortunately, the product has declined dramatically over the last few years in so many areas. I won't be commenting on the itinerary in detail other to say it was fabulous! Sirena was aquired by Oceania in 2016 and underwent a fairly extensive drydock at that time to bring her up to Oceania standards. Two months ago in May, 2019 Sirena undewent her biggest renovation ever as part of the much advertised Oceania NEXT program. The ship is gorgeous and absolulely looks better than new. Very impressive appearance. The cabins and bathrooms were gutted down to the steel and rebuilt using the same footprint. Unfortunately, that means standard cabins remain extremeley small and below industry averages for the premium cruise market. Even in the Penhouses bathrooms are VERY small and have poor ventilation. Air conditioning on the ship was consistently a problem - especially in the cabins. The new Oceania beds and bedding are heavenly as are the cushioned lounges with logo clad terry cloth covers. So given the recent refurbishment you would think the Oceania Sirena has all necessary ingredients for a huge recipe for success. Despite all the expensive artwork, gorgeous decor and aesthetically pleasing touches Sirena suffers from a miserable crew which makes her very ugly. That being said, we certainly encounted a number of people on board who were exceptional (cabin stewardess Daniella) and interestingly a few confided in us that they are leaving for Seabourn, Viking and Crystal because "things have gone downhill since NCL purchased us". Many of the crew members remind us of the walking dead. Just zombies doing their jobs - at time begrudgingly. A smile or hello was tough to extract and never seemed sincere. The shore excursions staff and reception staff are indifferent, rude and nasty. Quite condecending actually. Getting a reception staff member to look up and acknowledge you is like pulling teeth and they are clearly annoyed to have to interact with passengers. Preoccupied with other things. Certainly, working on a cruise ship away from family and friends can be difficult for many as it is not a normal life. However, this is the hospitality business. I never encountered passengers being rude or demanding to the staff. Just the opposite. A really nice crowd on this cruise with a lot of kids - mostly very well behaved. Average age probably young 50's. We met many calm, even keeled passengers who lost their nerve over rude treatment on a vacation. A few people I never would have suspected really snapped (not at the crew), by venting to other passengers about their negative experiences and were clearly bothered. Cut backs since NCL aquisition are evident everywhere. Bar service by the pool is quite limited as is the liquor selection (all over the ship). Food quality and offerings have dropped off significantly. On a bright note, Oceania still does one of the best jobs with room service. Bar drinks are expensive if you don't have a drink package and an "honest" drink (think Ruths Chris Vodka Martini) requires a double bringing the price of an "honest" martini that fills an appropriate martini glass to around $27. A few bartenders (Allen and Baptiste) were exceptional, but most were non-communicative, miserable, rude and don't listen. We were the only ones by the pool one morning starting at 11 and no other passengers showed up until noon. I had to go to the bar to ask for an iced tea (I know first world problem) and was treated as if I was inconveniencing the bartender who was doing some cleaning behind the bar. Not a good feeling. Simply put, we didn't feel like welcome guests on Sirena which is unacceptable for any cruise line, but especially for one who markets themselves as better than the rest and premium. We have sailed with this cruise director before. In my opinion he is a lackluster cruise director who fails to set a vibe or personality for the ship. He vanished quickly from his mandatory appearances and it seemed he did not want to be seen by the passengers or mix and mingle. Same can be said of the rest of the social staff on board - I guess the fish stinks from the head and leads by examples (sometimes bad ones). Absent. The ship has no essence or personality which can only come alive with a happy and engaging crew - particularly a social staff that has the ability to take the lead. Over the years Oceania has hired many more Filipinos and Indonesians for what I'm told is 1/3 the cost of hiring a European or South African. I believe these hard working employees are exploited victims of an underground that is not so underground, but right in front of our face and just as unconscionable as sweat shop labor. I had exensive conversations with a fwe crew members who were very open and honest about this issue. Compared to lines like Seabourn where it is not uncommon to have a cabin stewardess who has gone to college to train in hospitality and is fairly paid the Filipino and Indonesian crew are hired without experience, limited English and purely for financial reasons - certainly no fault to these human beings who deserve better, but take the jobs out of desperation. It's not fair to these crew members or the passengers as they are programmed to fail. I can perhaps understand the cheaper labor for mass maket lines, but it is not compatible for a cruise line that markets an ultra premium or perhaps even a luxurious experience to have such a service disconnect. To me Oceania is no different than my cell phone carrier that outsources its calls to the Phillipines because it is cheaper labor. Don't get me wrong - I love the Phillipines and all people. Essentially, my cell phone carrier is telling me I'm not worth talking to a more well compensated and well trained employee in the United States (or elsewhere). Anyone who has experienced these call centers knows it is not a satisfying experience and quite the insult. Likewise Oceania! In summary, if you are looking for a pretty hotel with above average food to transport you from port to port and have no expectations of a "cruise experience" and don't mind being treated as persona non grata Oceania beats the mass market competition - especially when you consider their ships hold 600-1200 passengers compared to 6,000 passengers. There is a benefit to fewer passengers, but keep in mind Sirena has more than 600 passengers at 30,000 tons while Seabourn's Odyssey Class vessels only accomodate 450 passengers at 30,000 tons. So despite the fewer number of passengers one must consider passengers per ton and passenger space ratios. My wife and I just can't get past the rude, zombie, indifferent factor as we enjoy more personalized, interactive and sincere service that should be inherent to near luxury and luxury cruises. It's no fun to be treated rudly and is really irritating and unncessary. Fortunately, we all have choices and for us cruise fanatics there are lines like Seabourn and Crystal that offer this level of service. The beauty of cruising - there is something for everyone and this review is just my two cents. Read Less

Our first Oceania Cruise was on the Marina and we were so “wowed” we booked the Sirena to sail 5 months later. We did not come back from this one overwhelmed with a sense to book the next one ASAP. First, the things that were a little less than fantastic The spa deck was very small and hard to find a seat on some days. So, the concierge upgrade was not really worth the money. The bathrooms were very tiny and, we knew going in it was a smaller ship but, if you are on the toilet with the door closed it was sideways sitting. The room stewards were not as intuitive as to what we needed. For example- on day one we had champagne in a bucket that we didn’t drink on boarding as in it was more fun after sail away. When we came back to the room to drink- the bucket was gone and the champagne on the counter. We had to call to get the bucket back. The buffet restaurant was not quick with water, tea or coffee. Most breakfasts we had to flag someone down to get us more. There was link flexibility in changing restaurant dinner times even with empty tables. The good- heck it is still a fantastic line! The food is fantastic and who doesn’t like grilled lobsters. Honestly, the best food you can have at sea. The main dining room and speciality restaurants had great service. The ship is very clean. Read Less

Easily the worst cruise company there is on a dated ship with untrained staff who don’t actually understand English but do “speak it.” Spent over $70k and food was meh, service was bad and no one seemed to care. Try Seaborne if you can afford or Windstar before ever considering this line or this ship. We have cruised for years and this was the largest and most messed up ship ever and it is relatively small at 1200 passengers. Sad. Utter disappointment. Canyon Ranch Spa is NOT. Just branding. 5 restaurants. Not really. Just a mix of the same poor ingredients prepared differently. Staff dedicated — yes but constant language barrier makes any requests impossible. I don’t need to work to help paid staff on a cruise I am paying to enjoy. I was speechless to recognize that senior staff and management honestly don’t care. In fact one manager said they could not address the problem because they were in the middle of their own personal spa appointment in the middle of the work day. That’s choice! Read Less

Chose this cruise because of the itinerary (Grecian Glory--Greece, Turkey, Italy) and also because we were traveling with a single adult daughter and wanted something fun for her--hopefully some young people on board. Pros: Clean, nice ship. Food in specialty restaurants good, but main dining areas the food was just average. Staterooms are a good size, with plenty of storage, walk in closets, and great bathroom for a ship. We booked too late to get two rooms so we shared a penthouse with our daughter. I was concerned it would be too small but with all the storage we had plenty of room. I was really impressed with the bathroom which had a full size tub and a separate stand up shower. The main pool seemed to be deck chairs available, but we had our own private sun deck so that was never a concern. Embarkation was a breeze. We had our own time schedule since we had a penthouse. The check in was literally empty and we walked right onto the ship. Our luggage arrived in an hour. Cons: The entertainment is terrible on this ship. The Riviera lounge acts are geared to the 70+ crowd. Martini's piano lounge had a quiet, low-key atmosphere and was very boring. The Horizons bar had a band that I wouldn't have hired myself. Very cheezy. Other than entertainment, this cruise line really fell short on helping with information on destinations. We wanted to go to a beach on the far side of Mykonos and our concierge didn't even know that there are only 25 taxis on the whole island. She had NO information on how to get where and admitted she had never been on the island. We asked her to get us a private driver and she isn't allowed to do that. On another island we asked if she could book us a private charter boat--can't do that either. Hmmm. Not sure what the point of the concierge is. Many of the passengers got off at Mykonos not knowing that we had to take two shuttles to get to the town because there was poor communication from the ship. There were numerous other examples but you get the idea. We only did a few of the excursions and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much we liked them. We ended on a bad note in Turkey, however, when our tour guide tried to "force" us to sit through a 30 minute Turkish rug demonstration. We walked out because we've done it before and it's all a scam. I was disappointed that Oceania approved something like that. We took full advantage of the spa and I was shocked to see such an antiquated booking system. It's all done on paper (welcome to the 1990's) and takes forever to get appointments and to confirm them. They also had few fitness classes even though they advertise that they have several daily. The stationary machines looked fine, but that's not my preferred workout so I didn't use them. Not sure i would sail with them again. Maybe in 10 years. Read Less

This is my fourth cruise with Oceania. I have been on both the Riviera and the marina. Well both ships are lovely, I have to say that I enjoyed the Riviera the most. I find the ship to be simply beautiful. This service is always so helpful and cheerful. We had a penthouse suite as I was traveling with my father and aunt. The room was clean, well appointed, and had plenty of room. We all had enough space to put away all her clothes. The suitcases fit comfortably under the bed. They would unfold a sofa bed every evening that my dad slept in. I wanted to sleep in it but he insisted that it was more comfortable. The walking closet was large enough to act as a changing room. I am usually out all day on a tour or exploring on my own. I have no real interest in on board activities or entertainment. I found the chamber music group that played in front of the grand dining room and martinis bar to be absolutely delightful. I enjoyed the afternoon tea. However, I notice that they no longer have the pastries and sandwiches set up as self serve. You had to wait to be served with the little cart that goes around. There are some ways I see that the line is cutting back since they have been acquired by Norwegian line. I hope this doesn’t continue. The tea was still delightful. We had our transfers from the airport to our ship and from the ship to our hotel handled through Oceania. This was very efficient and made embarkation and Disembarkation pretty easy. The only trouble was is that there were so many people who had booked the room at the grand Brittania hotel in Athens that they were somewhat overwhelme. Oceania did their best to accommodate us while we waited to be checked in. The only problem I encountered during the cruise was with regard to their policy on booking on board. They provided numerous handouts stating that you could save $600-$1200 if you booked on board depending on the length of the cruise you chose. However that so-called discount only brought the cost down to what was their published prices less $100, you also got 100 on board credit. This is not the $600 to $1200 that The handouts indicated. Also the onboard Oceania ambassador I found to be Unhelpful and disingenuous. It seem that she was more concerned on her commission then in booking us in an appropriate room. Oceania is a great product they do not have to rely on this shady kind of marketing. I find the food to be generally of high-quality on the ship. I do agree that the offerings in the grand dining room tend to be very boring. Also if you expect your steak in the polar grill to be very rare, you have to order it “blue“. If you say rare you will get something like medium rare. I have already booked a Caribbean cruise and a cruise that goes to southeast Asia next year. I feel Oceania is kind of on the cusp here, it is still a very high-quality product, I just hope corporate doesn’t ruin a good thing. Read Less