Customer Service from and Oceania Awful - Food and Cabin Service Great - No Port Support

Item: Sirena
Rating: 2.5
Author: bdonato

Sirena Cruise Review to South America

bdonato

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

2.5 out of 5

Verified Review

33 Night South America Montage (Rio De Janeiro To Lima)

Sail date: October 30, 2017

Ship: Sirena

Cabin number: 7096

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Called Oceania and I was yelled at. Called and had to deal with incompetence. The agent costs us about $2,000 because she did not know that we could have done our own air and gotten the $1,000 credit. Several other guests had the same issue.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

There were many people Oceania signs that were not for the shuttle bus. Once finding the correct person, they were fine if you understood the process. I had to explain to some elderly travelers what the next steps were. It was hot in the airport and the had elderly wait where there were no charis.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Food and wait staff were wonderful. Great selections. Only issue was the hidden gems were not made obvious. Examples are lamb chops with breakfast in the dinner room, escargots in the bistro at lunch, and lobster tail in the waves lounge daily.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

I have never seen so few activities. Even on the sea day there was virtually nothing offered.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Only 1 show per night at 9:45. Way too late and the performers that they had were mediocre at best. The lounge was a flat floor with a low ceiling. You could not see the stage and the performers could not even do jumps properly.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

I have to give this one star. The room stewards and waiters were wonderful. All other staff was rude, poorly trained and just in general not there for the cliental. When getting on a tender, the security offer sent the tender off when we were 25 seconds away and it was still tied up. We had to wait 22 minutes for the next one to leave. Another time they wait 10 minutes with a full tender for 4 more people. When it came time to get our passports, the staff member left them unattended and I found a guest going through them unchecked. When asked about the ports, not one person knew anything about any port. In one port we asked if we could walk into town instead of using the shuttle bus and they just said "we recommend the bus". This was a pain because the bus lines were so long. As it turned out, you had to take the bus because the terminal was secure and the only way to get back in was the shuttle bus. The ship's staff should be able to answer questions like that.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5