Grand European Explorer from Southampton to Istanbul, 5 August 2026 (22 nights)

Boutique ship, over 20 years old but in good condition, 670 passengers. Nice decor. Generally good service. Good food. Portion sizes uneven in main dining room - some very small, others overgenerous. Our cruise had a large number of sea days and entertainment could have been more extensive. Service in the bars were inconsistent - some bars were table service, others you had to collect the drinks yourself. We missed a port because of bad weather, and there was no refund of port fees. We were encouraged to complete a post-cruise survey BEFORE disembarkation, so we could not include our disembarkation experience. We were told we could do a post-cruise survey at home, but the QR code provided took us to an enquiry form, not a survey!

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.