Serenade of the Seas Reviews

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Serenade of the Seas is a well laid out vessel, well cared for, spotlessly clean and just the size I like. I was attracted by the itinerary which offered a variety of interesting ports, all full day stops and a six day at sea ocean crossing which is maximum for me. I decry the recent trend to eight and even nine day at sea crossings which only seem only designed to save on port charges and force passengers to spend more money on board. No thanks. Boarding at San Juan seemed a little chaotic, a great shed of a building, with a crowd around the baggage handlers and some noisy confusion at the ticket counters. That said it somehow all proceeded efficiently and quickly and we were processed and on board in less than half an hour. Can't complain about that. My inside cabin was ready on boarding and contained enough room and storage for one or two persons. No stains, odors or visible damage. Good bed (but not as good as Holland America). Basic bathroom but everything worked and there was abundant hot water and good pressure. No toiletries. "Beam me up Scotty" wrap around shower stall was large enough for me (6'3", 225 lbs) but fellow passengers with ample hips found the shower stalls challenging. A/C and heat control worked. I like inside cabins because they are dark at night and quiet and because, traveling solo I have no intention of spending time sitting on the bed staring out of the window or by myself on a balcony so I save the money for other things. Not quite a walk around promenade deck nor a forward observation lounge but there are several excellent forward observation points on several decks including the ability to go right to the bow. Neat. Nice bars and lounges. We gravitated to the Champagne bar with nice views and hors d'oeuvres. Safari Club very nice but under utilized. Nifty balanced pool tables which were popular. Odd Sports Bar forward of the Casino was almost always deserted. Schooner bar has a nautical theme but was chosen by the large Puerto Rican contingent on board as their clubhouse and so was always packed with a good natured crowd singing and rollicking in Spanish. Royal Viking lounge had been renamed but was uninvitingly decorated and underused. Good place for a quiet read during the day. Good deck space never seemed crowded and deck chairs were abundant. Some effort made by staff to stop chair hogging in popular areas. Bravo. Covered conservatory pool popular and very pleasant. Table tennis, mini golf and shuffleboard all available and well used. Even the basketball court had its fans. Jogging track used by runners, joggers, walkers, even a guy in a motorized wheelchair and so worked for nobody really. Entertainment so so but nothing special. Usual cruise ship stuff. Spectacular central atrium well used for everything from the dreaded 'art' auction to dances but be aware that sound from these events travels and if you have a cabin near to the atrium you will hear it. Cruise staff average and did their jobs but nothing special. Bingo sparsely attended since the bigger prizes. (free cruises etc) were moved to a lottery in the Casino. Trivia popular. Food in the Windjammer Buffet went from good to excellent. An above average performance At night a carving station offered thing like prime rib and salmon in puff pasty to folks not wanting the dining room. Lunch had good variety and I always found something tasty. The head chef is from India and an excellent curry or two was always available. Alternatively the Seaview Cafe (to be replaced by a 'for fee' Mexican Cantina for some reason) offers good fish, lousy chips and OK Reuben sandwiches. Good table cleaning and drink refill service. Main restaurant offered fairly good choices with several hits including great duckling in cherry sauce, first rate rack of lamb, good prime rib and vegetables which were fresh and usually not overcooked. Food was hot. A few misses including a much touted "Signature Dish" - New Way Surf and Turf. Three flabby tasteless shrimp languishing on a tough old steak that seemed to be flank but was described as 'Shoulder Filet" (???) No Way Surf and Turf. This Signature needs a handwriting expert. Service prompt and efficient but the main waiter was silly and eventually annoying. Assistant waiter very professional and good so we reversed the tips at the end of the cruise. Portofino Restaurant, at $20 offered and excellent menu and food in a pretty room with excellent sea views. Good value. Chops Grill at $30 offered large portions of first rate beef, boring starters and sides, a ponderous room without interest, eager chatty service that lacked finesse and was, overall, a blah experience. Royal Caribbean is very good at getting people off and on the ship at port stops. There never seemed to be a long wait or a problems. The usual fracas of herding the tour groups onto their buses is never pretty but RCCI handles it as well as anybody. Service throughout the ship was pleasant and our few problems were handled efficiently and courteously by the front desk and the maitre d. There are refreshingly few announcements on this ship and the usual pesky ship photographers behaved admirably. More kudos. Do see Cadiz (a charmer), do enjoy Gibraltar (pray for a clear day). If walking is a problem, Gibraltar cabs will get you closer to the sights on top than the tour buses can. In Palma, RCCI organized an expensive shuttle into town that had restless lines waiting for it. The crew meanwhile walked across the street and took clean, frequent city buses into town for 1 euro. So did I. Shame RCCI. Tell people. Disembarkation was a breeze. Very well handled. All in all a very enjoyable cruise and well worth the money. I am a HAL boy but I would certainly consider RCCI and especially the Serenade again after this.

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The embarkation procedure in San Juan could not possibly have been smoother. Although as Diamond Members we have priority check in, we did not need it as there were only a few people waiting when we arrived. (People who have not cruised before should be aware that it is customary to tip the baggage handlers who take the luggage at the port even though they only "carry" it a few feet.) This was our second trip on the Serenade of the Seas. We liked the ship so much last year that we booked it again for this year and we were not disappointed (with one exception which will be discussed later). The ship is kept spotlessly clean. Although there had recently been issues on another RC ship with Norovirus, we experienced no difficulties whatsoever (although I will also add that we were regular users of the purell stations - especially when we got on the ship after visiting a port. We also used the sanitizers outside the restaurants and Windjammer. ) (One suggestion would be to make this MANDATORY for the Windjammer since anyone who does NOT sanitize puts everyone at risk!) By coincidence we had the same room steward as we had last year. Not only did he remember us, but he welcomed us like family!!! It made our trip very special! We also met our restaurant server from last year and even though we were not seated at her station she would often come to check up on us! I am prone to motion sickness but the ship is generally very stable. We encountered weather that was not typical for the Caribbean in the spring (rain, storms, high seas) but the only time motion was an issue was the last night of the cruise when there were 5-7 foot waves. It was unusual even by the crew's standards. The food was very good (what we had expected!) - with lots of choices in the afternoon at the Windjammer. The cruiseline has become more sensitive to different dietary needs, so there are always lowfat or low carb options. We also enjoyed the "open" coffee and tea stations outside the Windjammer. The only 'glitch' as far as food goes in the availability of late night snacks. If you are hungry, you have to trek up to the one small cafe that is open after 9:30. It takes a lot of determination to find it and to get there and the selection is somewhat limited. The only other 'disappointment' was in the cruise director and staff. Last year, the cruise director was absolutely excellent. He MADE the trip -- great sense of humor and limitless energy! He remained at ALL events well beyond when the director normally departs and he seemed to really enjoy being around the passengers. The cruise director this year was not of the same caliber and we were disappointed.

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Arrival & Embarkation We flew to San Juan on departure day. Our flight arrived on time around 1:00 and we went right to the port. The cab fare was stated at the airport and after about 20 mins we were at the port. I noticed little to no signage instructing you where to go. We had priority embarkation and located the luggage drop-off and got in line. We were in our cabin about 25 mins after we arrived at port. Cabin We had cabin # 1100. We like the aft corner- both for the larger balcony, and the quiet. The walk aft has never bothered us, and we never noticed excessive noise from the Windjammer. Our Cabin steward Dassa was great, always smiling and saying hello when we would see him in the hallway. Food We have always thought the food on RCI was fine, nothing special, but still enjoyable, and this was no exception. We chose the late seating due to our shore excursions. We were assigned a table for 4 by a window. Our waiter Ignacio, and his assistant Jacqueline were very attentive and after the first night knew our drinks and roll picks, but asked anyway-just in case. Before dinner, we would have ho rs-d'oeuvres and a drink at the Champagne Bar, it became a routine we would follow the rest of the cruise The windjammer was fine for breakfast- good salmon. I enjoyed going to the Seaview Cafe, especially once we got back from a shore excursion. Great fries, cuban sandwich and chicken fingers. Sorry that it is being replaced. Went to the pasta demonstration at Portofino. Really good appetizers, but when I went to take a forkful of my seafood risotto, i bit down on a shell fragment. I told our waitress and she commented that "sometimes that happens" and took the plate away. If that is what RCI feels is "fine dinning", I didnt want to experience dinner that evening and asked to cancel my dinner reservation that evening. I was told that there would be a fee for cancelling less than 24 hours. After talking to the manager, the fee was waived. While the food was good at Portofino, Its really not a fine dining experience based on the staff. I have eaten at some really good restaurants and when something like this happened I was offered another entree, a glass of wine and/ or had the meal comped.Other than waiving the cancellation fee, the manager did little more than say "next time it will be better. Entertainment Didnt go to any shows. Ports Booked excursions, or explored the ports on our own. Tortola Went to the baths on Virgin Gorda. We really enjoyed walking around and thru them. St. Maartin Headed to the Sunset Bar to watch the planes. Again, really cool to see. St. Kitts Was supposed to do the volcano hike with Royston Tours, but got the starting time confused with another excursion. Royston came back and gave us a great tour of the island. Dominica Went canyoning with Extreme Dominica. One of the best excursions we have ever done. A couple of hours repelling and/or jumping off waterfalls. Really, really cool and fun. Barbados Went on the Calabaza. Relaxing and fun snorkeling with sea turtles. Ship General We sailed on the Serenade 4 years ago to Alaska. Since the last time we were on her, you could notice that some areas of the ship need some updating, but we didn't notice anything that would stop us from having a great time. I am sure that all of that will be taken care of when she goes into drydock later this year. Disembarkation We were flying out the next day, so we were in no hurry to get off the ship. We had breakfast in the Windjammer, and then went back to our cabin to get our stuff. We went to the main dining room for our 9:00 departure time. Found ou luggage and were through customs in about 10 mins. Took a cab to the Hotel Milano and checked in. We chose a room in the back due to our early flight the next morning. The hotel is nice. Rooms are a little small but the staff are helpful,the location is great, and is affordable, at least compared to other hotels in the area. Walked around OSJ and toured the forts. Lots to see, its a really cool place. Departure Had the front desk person call a cab for us @ 4:00am. Cab ride to the airport was quick. what was confusing was the fact you had to go thru an agriculture check/screening prior to checking your bags with the airline. Other than that getting back home went smoothly

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First let me say this was my first cruise. It was my wife and I, plus our 6 year old son. I have been to Sandals, St. Lucia and Beaches, Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean before. We flew into San Juan the day before the cruise and stayed at the Caribe Hilton. I'd say the Caribe Hilton is pretty much ideal for a pre-cruise hotel with its pools and bay and proximity to Old San Juan and the port. On the first cruise day morning, we checked out Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It is a must see. We left the hotel at about 3pm for the port. It took us about 45 minutes to get onto the ship. Lines were not long at all. Our cabin was 9558. It is an ocean view cabin with a balcony. The cabin had a sofa that converted to a bed for our son. The room was in absolutely great shape. I have rarely seen a hotel room in as good a shape as the room was in. The room was extremely quiet. For breakfast every day we did the windjammer. It had an OK selection for breakfast, nothing extraordinary. I found it obscene that they charged for fresh squeezed orange juice. We hit the windjammer for lunch on two of the afternoons and it had a very good selection of food. The second cruise day was a sea day on the way to Grenada. We did the Portofino pasta demonstration lunch and hung out at the pool most of the day. The pool is ridiculously small. Formal night was on this night. At Grenada we took a water taxi to Grand Anse Beach and hung out for the entire day. It is a very beautiful beach, but we were swarmed at first by chair and umbrella vendors. Once we settled down and picked a vendor, they left us alone and got drinks and food for us with no problem. At the end of the day, we took the water taxi back to the ship. At St. Lucia, we had already been there years ago, so we just took a taxi to Rodney Bay and hung out at Spinnakers restaurant for drinks and lunch. Then we took the same taxi back to Mourne Fortune to overlook the ships in Castries. Then the ship took us back to Castries. At Antigua, we took the Excellence catamaran tour around the island, it was awesome. You snorkeled and had lunch at Green Island and then also stopped at Ffryes beach on the way back. My son was able to snorkel here with no problem. There were about 150 people on-board, but there was plenty of room. We didn't step foot in town. At St. Croix, we took a taxi over to Christiansted and then got on the all day sail to Buck Island with Big Beard's Renegade catamaran. I highly recommend this excursion. The sail to Buck Island was about an hour and then you stopped on turtle beach for a while to enjoy the awesome white beach. Then we sailed over to the reef and they guided you snorkeling for about 15 minutes and then let you snorkel as much as you wanted for an hour or so. My son did snorkel here, but was scared of the coral, and only did the 15 minutes. I snorkeled for another 45 minutes or so here and saw schools of blue tangs and some barracudas among many other fish. It is the best snorkeling I have ever done. After snorkeling, we sailed back to a beach on the main island where they have a barbecue setup for burgers, hot dogs, fish, chips, drinks and my son was able to play on the beach and in the water some more. After sailing back to the dock, we caught a taxi back to the ship. At St. Thomas, we just did a small amount of shopping and then took a tour of the island with just the three of us on a giant open sided tour vehicle. The tour was about two hours and he took us to breathtaking views of the island. What a beautiful island. Dining: We did My Time Dining, but that was kind of pointless, because we ended up eating at 6:15pm every day except for the first day. We had the same waiter and table every day anyway. The food was of excellent variety with choices of about six appetizers and six entrees every day with no repetition between days. The food was of good quality with some excellent thrown in, but I felt food at Sandals and Beaches was of higher quality. Certainly any decent restaurant in the US has better food than was provided on the ship. Drinks: It is absolutely silly that you have to pay for sodas and other juice drinks. Beer selection was OK, for non-craft beer. The mixed drinks were of OK quality. We did do a 7 bottle wine package, but maybe that saved us $20 in total. I wouldn't do a wine package again, and that would free us up for the whole wine menu. Photography: We paid $250 and that allowed us to get all of our professional photos for the cruise. I had a stack of nearly 100 8x10's of excellent quality. I thought this was a good value. Conclusion: This was an excellent trip to get a sample of many islands. I think it was a bit hectic of a schedule for a vacation. The ship was of excellent size for cruising. Not too big, not too small. Very little to do on-board as compared to bigger ships, but that didn't matter, since most of the days we were out exploring. For my family, the total costs of the vacation ended up being a little more than an all-inclusive resort for 7 days. Certainly, you can save money by picking an inside cabin, not drinking, and not doing any excursions, but what is the fun in that. Frankly I'm not sure how you could sail without a balcony. I loved listening to the waves as we slept with the door cracked open at night. In the end, I prefer a nice Caribbean resort with gigantic pools and excellent restaurants over cruising. We will cruise again, but only to sample other islands we haven't been to. I would have no problem sailing with Royal Caribbean whenever we do sail again though.

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Embarkation: we flew to San Juan 2 days ahead, to see Old San Juan. Had dinner and enjoyed the flamenco show at Barrachina one night. At the port early, took about 30 minutes from arriving until we were on the ship. Lunch in Windjammer- forgot this ship has very nice outside dining areas, which we used every time we ate in the Windjammer. Luggage was delivered in a very timely manner. Cabin was ok- in the very front so quite a bit of walking (but made for a quiet area). Dining: we had the later dining time and lucked out with a table for 4 and no one else showed up. The best service by our waiter and asst. waiter- and we found the food quite good. Some meals better but overall good. Windjammer was also good- some rather interesting selections. Dined at Portofino one night- excellent food and service. Well worth the $20 charge. Activities: Only show we went to was the Quest- a riot. Did a little damage in the casino (to ourselves, not the house!). With a port-intensive cruise like this one, not much inclination to do a lot once back on the ship. Ports: did mostly beaches- the ride to Cane Garden Bay in Tortola was hair-raising but afforded wonderful views. In Dominica, took the trolley tour. A very poor city but we found the people so warm and friendly. Our guide was very proud of his country. Usual vendors on the beaches- most unusual was the green velvet monkey ("Max") in St. Kitts! Disembarkation: Waited in the Platinum and above lounge and were off the ship quickly. Seemd like one of the smoother disembarkations I have experienced. Overall: Enjoyed the Seranade very much. Yes, it does need a touch-up but the staff we encountered were very helpful and friendly and our stateroom attendent Elroy was a gem. I'll take that over shinier windows anytime!

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