Introduction: Our Panama Canal Cruise on Oceania Sirena
How to Save Money on an Oceania Cruises Sailing
Oceania Cruises Fleet Explained
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Westin Playa Bonita Panama Pre-Cruise Hotel Review
Panama Canal Marriott Bonvoy Hotel Options Ranked
Panama Canal New Cruise Terminal Still a Work in Progress
Boarding a Cruise Ship During a Norovirus Outbreak
Oceania Cruises Sirena Vista Suite 6003 Review
What Does Oceania Cruises’ Country Club Casual Dress Code Really Mean?
Oceania Cruises Wine and Spirits Tasting Experiences
What to Expect on a Panama Canal Full Transit
Oceania Cruises Sirena Dining Review
Great Stirrup Cay, Oceania Cruises Private Island???
What Happens When Oceania Cruises Skips a Port Due to Weather?
The Pros and Cons of Sailing on Oceania’s Smallest R-Class Ships
Size Matters, Why We Prefer Oceania Cruises Larger Ships
Introduction
In this Oceania Cruises’ Sirena dining review, we’ll cover what’s a little bit different between Sirena and every other ship in the fleet including other R-Class siblings – Insignia, Regatta, and Nautica.
What’s the Same?
For the smaller R-Class ships in the fleet, there are two specialty restaurants. On Sirena‘s three siblings, those specialty restaurants are Toscana, the line’s Italian restaurant that’s featured fleet-wide, and Polo Grill, the steakhouse aboard all the ships in the fleet. On the three (soon to be four) purpose-built Oceania Cruises ships, there are four specialty dining restaurants, including the previously mentioned Toscana and Polo Grill, as well as a third Red Ginger, the line’s pan-Asian restaurant concept serving South Asian cuisine. The fourth restaurant on Marina and Riviera is Jacques, named after Jacques Pepin, who has collaborated with Oceania Cruises for many years. On the new Vista and upcoming Allura, Jacques has been replaced by Ember providing a more casual and decidedly “American” menu. Of course, the non-reservation Grand Dining Room, Terrace Cafe, Waves Grill, and Baristas have some variation based on the class of ship but are available throughout.
One thing that’s “new” but also the same throughout the fleet is in the Grand Dining Room, there are now daily souffles for dessert. These are gluten-free and delicious! I might have enjoyed one every night in the Grand Dining Room.
What’s Different?
Sirena was the last of the R-Class ships added to the fleet and came AFTER Marina and Riviera as opposed to the rest of the fleet. So when Oceania Cruises acquired the ship they did something a bit different and added the very popular Red Ginger to the ship. In order to accommodate Red Ginger, something had to go as there are only locations for two adjacent specialty restaurants at the front of Deck 10. Oceania Cruises cleverly (at least in our opinion) combined Toscana and Polo Grill to create Tuscan Steak. This made a lot of sense to us as Toscana already had steak, veal chops, fish filets, lobster, and other common elements available in both locations. So, taking the best of the Toscano menu and adding more steakhouse favorites make for an absolutely winning combination.
What Did We Think?
This one is a bit difficult to answer. We had some real highs with some amazing food and service generally in the Grand Dining Room and during one of our two visits to Red Ginger. Here are some photos of breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Grand Dining Room as well as a couple photos from Red Ginger.
Unfortunately, both of our dinners in Tuscan Steak were very slow, with only mediocre food and service. One of the highlights of eating in Polo Grill, or, in this case, Tuscan Steak, is the tableside preparations, the two most popular being the whole lobster removed from the shell and the Dover sole filleted. Both were good, but not Oceania Cruises good like we’re used to on other ships in the fleet.
We had been warned by cruise friends who had sailed Oceania Sirena before that the service on board just wasn’t up to Oceania Cruises standards. We have to agree, though we were also dealing with the Norovirus protocols that we discussed here.
Final Approach
As we’ve mentioned previously, we nearly always book an Oceania Cruise while on an Oceania Cruise and this one was no different. Perhaps it’s telling that we chose to book on Oceania Marina. For us, Marina and Riviera have the best culinary options because we really enjoy having Jacques, the Culinary Center (also available on Allura Class ships including Vista), and La Reserve (replaced by Aquamar on Allura Class ships). – Michael
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