Ship features unique art collection as part of OceaniaNEXT brand enhancement programme
By
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Sirena has returned to service after becoming the latest ship in US-based operator Oceania Cruises’ fleet to be updated as part of the OceaniaNEXT brand enhancement programme.
Sirena features 342 completely new staterooms and suites, as well as transformed public spaces. She also offers touches beyond that of sister ship Insignia, the first of six ships to undergo the refurbishment. These include new doors, full-length mirrors and additional sockets in all accommodation, new wall sconces in the spa and crystal chandeliers in the public spaces.
“The re-inspired Sirena is perhaps the best expression of our team’s Kaizen [Sino-Japanese word for ‘improvement’] culture which focuses on implementing constant incremental change that continually elevates the guest experience,” said Bob Binder, CEO of Oceania Cruises. “That’s the heart and soul of our OceaniaNEXT initiative.”
A new feature for Sirena is a unique art collection representing the brand. A specially commissioned painting by chef Jacques Pepin, the line’s executive culinary director, hangs in the ship’s social hub and coffee bar, Bar Istas.
“I don’t know whether my painting has helped my cuisine, or whether my cooking has helped my painting, and I don’t know if one borrows from the other,” said Pepin. “All I know is that, certainly for me, cooking and painting can live in harmony together. Both are different expressions of who I am, and both enhance my life considerably.”
At the centre of the ship, the deck-and-a-half-tall French-glass mirror contains a hand-painted willow tree that symbolises balance, learning, growth and harmony.
A piece by artist Soumiya Lakshmi Krishnaswamy hangs in the Reception Lobby next to the portrait of Claudine Pepin, the ship’s godmother and Krishnaswamy’s life-long friend.
“I knew I was creating something that would be living aboard the Sirena,” said Krishnaswamy. “I love the water and to be out on the middle of an ocean. I made this piece as part of collection that seeks to capture the spirit of adventure that lies in the sea, and with people who follow in pursuit of it.”