Oceania Sirena

Oceania Sirena cruise ship (Ocean Princess until 2016) was built under the name R Four, as one of the R-class vessels acquired from the fleet of the defunct Renaissance Cruises. In April 2016, the new ship joined her R-Class sisters (and current fleet mates) Insignia, Nautica and Regatta. Other cruise line vessels from this "Renaissance-class" are Azamara Journey, Azamara Pursuit and Azamara Quest (Azamara Club Cruises), Pacific Princess (Princess Cruises).

The ship was initially owned by a group of French investors and operated by the Renaissance cruise line company. Renaissance bankrupted in 2001, and Princess Cruises purchased two of its vessels - Ocean and Pacific. First, they renamed the "R Four" ship to "Tahitian Princess" and later to "Ocean Princess".

The vessel was delivered to Oceania in March 2016. It was purchased from its previous owner Carnival Corp for USD 82 million and underwent a 35-day long drydock refurbishment in France (Marseille) at the cost of UD $50 million before entering Oceania's fleet.

The name "Sirena" means "mermaid" in Spanish. The ship was transformed from "Princess" to "Oceania" with both new and traditional touches, including the addition of the Italian seafood/steakhouse restaurant Tuscan Steak (in the place of Toscana and Polo Grill restaurants), the Asian restaurant Red Ginger, also Terrace Cafe and the popular Baristas bar.

In December 2015, Claudine Pepin (TV host, cookbook author, daughter of master chef Jacques Pepin) was announced as godmother for MS Sirena. Jacques Pepin is also Oceania Cruises' Executive Culinary Director. The naming ceremony was held on April 27, 2016, in Barcelona. The traditional bottle smashing failed the first time (considered very bad luck for the ship), but the "Moet & Chandon Champagne" bottle was utterly smashed in the ship's hull on the second try. Following the christening, the godmother and her famous father sailed on the Inaugural Cruise, featuring themed onboard events (including cooking demonstrations and cookbook singing). All guests booked on the maiden voyage received a complimentary copy of Claudine Pepin's book "Let's Cook French".

On September 2, 2014, the NCL Norwegian company purchased the company "Prestige Cruise Holdings" (owner of Oceania and RSSC-Regent Seven Seas Cruises) for USD 3,025 billion, thus becoming the official owner of all vessels in both fleets.

The Apollo Group company provides all Oceania ships with the entire onboard hotel product and services. This includes administration, food staff (preparation and serving), housekeeping staff, also the vessel's provisioning and crewing. Other cruise lines served by Apollo are Thomson UK (Marella Cruises) and RSSC Regent Seven Seas.

Inaugural itineraries

The new Sirena ship started operations for Oceania Cruises in April 2016, with Inaugural season in Europe (Mediterranean Sea). Follows the list of special and repositioning cruise itineraries with ports of call times and suggestive Euro prices per person:

• April 27 (Inaugural cruise / "Maiden Voyage" for Oceania) 14 day Barcelona to Venice - from €4000 - ports of call Marseille, Monte Carlo, St Tropez, Elba, Rome, Positano, Messina, Malta, Kotor, Split, Koper
• September 20 (28-day Transatlantic crossing) Barcelona to New York - from €5600
• October 4 (14-day Transatlantic) Barcelona to New York - from €2160
• October 4 (24-day Transatlantic) Barcelona to New York - from €4560 - Alicante, Almeria, Cadiz, Madeira, Bermuda/Hamilton
• October 28 (28 day) New York to Miami - from €5680 - Bermuda (Hamilton), St Barthelemy, St Lucia, Tobago, Amazon River cruise (Brazil - Santarem, Boca da Valeria, Manaus, Parintins), Cayenne/Devil's Island, Barbados, Martinique, BVI (Virgin Gorda), Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic (La Romana)
• November 25 (16 day Panama Canal transition) Miami to Los Angeles - from €3050 - Great Stirrup Cay, Cartagena, Golfito, Puntarenas, Corinto, Puerto Quetzal, Acapulco, Cabo, San Diego

Cuba cruises from Miami 2018

For 2018 Caribbean season (April-June and September-December) Oceania Cruises Sirena ship had scheduled a total of 15 roundtrip Miami Florida itineraries (7-10-days) visiting ports in Cuba (Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos). The longer itineraries also visited ports in the Bahamas (including Great Stirrup Cay Island).

Each Cuban voyage featured a wide array of traditional Cuban dishes, as well as expert-led onboard lectures themed on the country's history, art and music.

Next table shows a 7-day round-trip itinerary (themed "Timeless Cuba") with prices starting from USD 3400 pp (double occupancy Inside cabin rates).

Ocean Princess ship

Follows the table with information regarding the previously named "MS Ocean Princess" vessel.

• Last refurbished 2012
• MMSI number 310505000
• Callsign code  ZCDS4
• Flag State (registered in) Bermuda
• Christened by three godparents (Ali McGraw, Ryan O'Neal, Tonita Flosse)
• Passenger decks: 9
• Cabin grades number: 25
• Total number of cabins: 338 (of which 62 Suites, 170 balcony rooms)
• Dining Rooms: Club Restaurant
• Restaurants and food bars: Sterling (steakhouse), Sabatini’s (Italian), Panorama (buffet), Pizzeria
• Lounges & Bars: Cabaret (theatre), Tahitian (nightclub), Club Bar, poolside bars
• Casino, Library, Art Gallery, Lotus Spa, Swimming Pools (2 -Main pool, Thalasso pool, Jacuzzis (3), Golf cage, Jogging track, Shuffleboard nets, Beauty salon, Sauna.
• This Princess cruise ship had a bit more godparents than usual - Madame Tonita Flosse (First Lady of French Polynesia at the time) and Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal (stars of the 1970 movie "Love Story").
• Fun fact is that the P&O Cruises ship Oceana was operated under the same name (Ocean Princess) in the period 2000-2002.
• In 2014, the vessel was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings from Carnival Corporation for USD 82 million. The USD 24 million were paid in cash in November 2014. The other USD 66 million were the "Sirena loan" - provided to NCLH by Carnival Corp (running through Nov 2019) at an annual interest rate of 2,75%.
• Princess Cruises Ocean Princess itinerary program offered a diverse set of exotic itineraries with departures from UK, USA (Florida and California ports), from South Africa (Cape Town), Asia (Singapore) and Australia (Sydney). The ship also operated on World Cruise tours leaving from UK and Australia.
• The last Ocean Princess itinerary was the 64-day around South America cruise (January 3 - March 7). The itinerary included the following ports - Miami, Florida (3 Jan), Philipsburg, St. Maarten (6 Jan), Roseau, Dominica (7 Jan), Bridgetown, Barbados (8 Jan), Trinidad, Tobago (9 Jan), Iles Du Salut, French Guiana (11 Jan), Natal, Brazil (15 Jan), Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (19 Jan, 20 Jan), Ilhabela, Brazil (21 Jan), Santos (Sao Paulo), Brazil (22 Jan), Montevideo, Uruguay (25 Jan), Buenos Aires, Argentina (26 Jan, 27 Jan), Puerto Madryn, Argentina (30 Jan), Port Stanley, Falkland Islands (1 Feb), Ushuaia, Argentina (3 Feb), Cape Horn, Chile (4 Feb), Punta Arenas, Chile (6 Feb), Puerto Chacabuco, Chile (9 Feb), Puerto Montt, Chile (11 Feb), Valparaiso, Chile (13 Feb), Coquimbo, Chile (14 Feb), Arica, Chile (16 Feb), Pisco, Peru (18 Feb), Callao, Peru (19 Feb, 20 Feb), Salaverry, Peru (21 Feb), Guayaquil, Ecuador (23 Feb), Puntarenas, Costa Rica (26 Feb), Panama Canal (transit 28 Feb), Santa Marta, Colombia (1 Mar), Willemstad, Curacao (3 Mar), Miami, Florida (7 Mar).