Jewels of Northern Europe from Stockholm to Southampton with Stay, 22 July 2026 (14 nights)

Good points were the foods excellent, felt miserable giving 4 stars for service but also didn't think it was worth 5. Maybe 4. 5 was about right. Met some lovely and interesting people. Not so good points were entertainers they had were very good but limited in variety. One singing duo they had were talented but were on 4 spots a day, some days for 14 days and grew stale on the ears. Main acts were ok but nothing more. Production crew were much the same apart from the dance coordinator who acted like a demented golem and was completely distracting. Guest speakers were limited and whoever thought having a doctor explain explicit micro surgery on board a mostly seniors cruise needs their head examined. Constant form filling for getting off in various countries is a pain and surely could be better organised. Getting off could definitely be better organised. Shuttle buses were provided most stops but were a cattle stampede to get on. Running every half hour if you missed the rush to get on the one you were on time for you were left standing on the dock in blazing sun for the next one where it was same process again where you could miss out on a seat to somebody who had turned up 2 seconds earlier. And I didn't travel halfway round the world to get dropped off at a shopping mall. I wanted to see a bit of the local culture without sitting on a bus for 6 hours. Pet hate on the ship was they had an outdoor smoking area on deck directly underneath the outdoor walking circuit so every lap of around a minute you were walking through the fumes of smokers. Acid test for any holiday is would you do it again and our answer would bean emphatic no.

The crew were fabulous nothing was a problem all with smiles all around. Sirena had a lovely quiet ambiance, the food was 5 star must praise the culinary team , the speciality restaurants were first class.

First time back on Sirena since it was refurbished and they made a great job of updating the cabins and providing the showers with glass doors. The overall ship was in great condition and the itinerary was also great, apart from the souless port near Amsterdam, where we disembarked after an overnight stay in port. I was disappointed with only two things: 1 The toiletries have had a massive downgrade and the Aquamar Spa toiletries now being supplied are not fit for purpose, in my opinion. 2 Still great food, but the menus were at times disappointing, in the Grand Dining Room. Overall, a great cruise with an excellent cruise line that provides high standards and great value.

North Atlantic Adventure - 11th August 2025 Oceania’s Sirena cruise ship is very well turned out with quality fittings throughout. It is beautifully clean and we know it’s not young. 700 or so passengers so a nice size for us. Our fortnight trip was in two halves – over in Greenland unfortunately it was cold and foggy but when back to the Scotland area, although a bit cool was much more pleasant, and we got into every port. Generally, the food is very good and also the Service is very good throughout. The ship could not handle the cold weather and a few people were sleeping fully clothed and having to move cabins and also public area were cold. We were in a penthouse cabin and surprisingly there was no coffee machine in the room and we all know the bathroom is quite small. And no champagne on arrival. Also we were not told that wine & beer with meals had been stopped, so that was a shock. I think the competition all provide this still – Viking/Azamara. This is exacerbated by the fact that a bottle of wine is say $50 +20% for which I assume Oceania buys for $5. Stuff that wasn’t so good listed below:- No port talks No night light Rubbish toilet flush No church service on Sundays Wi-fi was poor Safe too old Vegetables were usually cold, in all restaurants No hot deserts anywhere, eg crumble and custard No (9. 30) shows on last TWO nights – simply some unpopular films