Just back from the Serenade of the Seas

Hi, I've noticed a fair amount of negativity about the Serenade of Seas recently and for what it's worth having just returned from a cruise around Scandinavia and Russia I thought that I would post a few of my observations.

Firstly, I liked the size of this ship. The cruise was quite port intensive with only two sea days (one at the begining and one at the end) and so I found that there was enough to keep me occupied. As the weather was good I was happy to grab a coffee and watch the world go by.

I travelled with my husband and 15 year old son and I did have concerns that my son might be bored on the ship. We encouraged him to go to the teen club on the first day and after that only saw him at meal times! The activities that were organised by the club were varied and he made a great set of friends from all over the world. Since returning he has said that it was the best holiday he has ever had (even better than our trips to Disney World).

I found the food to be varied and of a good quality. Both my son and I are vegetarian and we never found it to be a problem. Our serving staff in the MDR were attentive, friendly and very professional. The Windjammer had a great selection at all meal times, it did get a little busy on sea days but that is to be expected.

My husband and I aren't a fan of the caberet style productions and found them a little dated but I realise that the shows have to appeal to a broad range of ages and nationalities so accept this. There were a couple of acts that we really enjoyed though, a pair of Russian acrobats and a juggler from the Netherlands which were really entertaining!

The cruise director was Topi, he was brilliant. I liked his sense of humour and if you happen to have him as a CD while you're onboard you're in for a great time.

So, for what it's worth these are just a few of my observations. I must add that I don't go on holiday looking for problems so maybe my opinion is a little one sided:) If anyone wants to know anymore please feel free to ask.

Thank you for the review-- we are cruising on Seranade this November and as you suggest, the negativity towards Seranade abounds.

Glad you had a good time --nice to hear positive info.

The cruise director was Topi, he was brilliant. I liked his sense of humour and if you happen to have him as a CD while you're onboard you're in for a great time.

Glad to hear this and hope he is on board when we sail on the Serenade (several times) next year. Did you, by any chance, catch him when he sits down in one of the bars (or other venues), pulls out his ukulele, and starts to sing. He's quite an entertainer in his own right.

Is there that much negativity? I see a lot of love for the Radiance Class ships. That was one of the reasons I chose the Serenade for my first Royal cruise after several with Carnival. It seemed highly rated.

The gripes I do see tend to be from people used to larger ships with more amenities (I didn't use half the amenities on Carnival as is), people with kids expecting all ships to revolve around kids activities (we have no kids), or people with a plethora of special requests that could not be honored (we never make special requests).

I admit, I love new ships, but the Serenade is one of the few older ships I still enjoy. I agree with OP, I've see lots of love for Radiance class.

Nice to hear some positives since we are leaving in 2 hours to fly to Copenhagen for the 8/30 cruise.:D I love all of the Radiance class ships and really looking forward to sailing on Serenade again.

Sherri:)

Hi Sherri,

Hope you have a wonderful time, Copenhagen is a lovely city!

Did you, by any chance, catch him when he sits down in one of the bars (or other venues), pulls out his ukulele, and starts to sing. He's quite an entertainer in his own right.

Alas, we missed this delight. We did catch a few of his dance moves though and boy can he move :D

DH and I are leaving tomorrow for Copenhagen and also boarding Serenade on Sunday. Love the Serenade. Sherri we might be on the same flight. DH is portly and bald and I am portly and white/grey hair. Hope to meet you soon. Pat

Thank you.

Were they performing the aerial acts in the Centrum? I had read they stopped them due to maintenance issues. Are they up and running now?

Were they performing the aerial acts in the Centrum? I had read they stopped them due to maintenance issues. Are they up and running now?

Yes, they were running last week while we were onboard. We saw two aerial acts in the Centrum during the cruise.

We also loved Serenade when we were on her in 2013. But we also love the Radiance/Vision class ships and have NO desire to even cruise on the bigger ships. We've cruised twice with Topi and have enjoyed him both times! :)

Yes, they were running last week while we were onboard. We saw two aerial acts in the Centrum during the cruise.

Excellent, thanks!

I have come to accept that negative reviews seem to gain more attention than positive ones but I don't recall reading any, or at least a lot of, negative reviews of Serenade recently. I have to say that our repositioning cruise from New Orleans to Boston this Spring was among our very best cruise experiences. Serenade was the only Radiance class ship we had yet to sail on and that fact plus an itinerary that took us to New Orleans and Bonaire for the very first time, and ended in our home port of Boston was a significant factor in our deciding to book that cruise. We never regretted our decision and we could not have had a better cruise experience or been treated better by everyone on board. Next year the Serenade will be completing its westbound transatlantic cruise in Boston so we look forward to doing the Norwegian fjords and TA on her to be followed six weeks later by her repositioning cruise from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale. We enjoy what each class of Royal Caribbean ship has to offer but have to admit that Radiance class is our very favorite.:)

I am so happy to see these reviews. We are on a 9 night Southern Caribbean in December, and have been looking forward to it. These comments have reinforced my excitement. Thank you all.

I have to say that our repositioning cruise from New Orleans to Boston this Spring was among our very best cruise experiences.

Couldn't agree more! The Radiance class ships are just something very special and the NOLA to Boston cruise was great all around. I'm jealous that you'll be able to do the reverse next year, but as you can see I already have another Serenade cruise book as well!

We are on Serenade in November, and to be honest did hesitate booking a bit as our first 2 cruises were on Oasis and we really LOVED the ship.

What drew us to Serenade, however, was the choice of ports. We didn't want to do the Eastern or Western itinerary again, and are looking forward to discovering 6 new Southern Caribbean islands. Can't wait!

What drew us to Serenade, however, was the choice of ports. We didn't want to do the Eastern or Western itinerary again, and are looking forward to discovering 6 new Southern Caribbean islands. Can't wait!

Completely agreed! Southern is our favorite itinerary. :)

Is there that much negativity? I see a lot of love for the Radiance Class ships. That was one of the reasons I chose the Serenade for my first Royal cruise after several with Carnival. It seemed highly rated.

 

The gripes I do see tend to be from people used to larger ships with more amenities (I didn't use half the amenities on Carnival as is), people with kids expecting all ships to revolve around kids activities (we have no kids), or people with a plethora of special requests that could not be honored (we never make special requests).

I enjoyed your post!

Like two other couples in this thread we will also be on the Serenade in about 2 days. We will be on the TA starting in Copenhagen and ending in New Jersey, via Norway, Iceland, Halifax.

The Serenade will be our last Radiance Class ship, we have sailed all the others and it´s our favorite class from RCCL.

But I also heard a lot of negative things about the Serenade, especially about the food, that was cold, vegetables to hard, meet to dry and hard, and Windjammer was the worst buffetrestaurant people have ever been in.

So, I thank you for your positive response and I´m now looking forward with more expectations than before. Many people are waiting for my review, because the trend in reviews here in Germany is, that RCCL is getting more and more worse reputation, especially compared to Celebrity.

Our last RCCL cruise was in november 2013 on Liberty and Allure and it was good. Okay, not as good as Celebrity, but good.

We were on the same cruise as op. 10 years since we had sailed on the serenade. We were pleased with our cruise. Not with the rccl tours. Had a great week of sunny skies and no rain. The entertainment was pretty good as well

Hi Maggie *waves* ,

The weather was fantastic and certainly helped. We didn't take any of the ships excursions but heard mixed reports about them from other cruisers. We did take a guided tour around St Petersburg with SPB who I would highly recommend.

I hope that everyone who has upcoming cruises on the Serenade has a lovely time, I'm just in the process of booking my next one and its a toss up between the Vision of the Seas or Norwegian Jade. Having only sailed with RCI and loved it every time I'm hesitant to switch to NCL!

Palkia, we will be cruising the Serenade for our first time October 19, Quebec to Ft Lauderdale. This will leave only the Jewel we have not been on in the Radiance class fleet. We have been on one Freedom class, the Liberty, no Voyager or Oasis Class yet..

I just booked to do your cruise in May.

Can you tell me what dock you were at in Stockholm & St. Petersburg?

Were there a lot of smokers on board?

Was there a Captains's Reception?

Any interesting tidbits about the ship or secrets you care to share?

Thanks.

Hi Cruiserbarbie,

At Stockholm we docked at Skadsgardskagen 167, which was a 15 minute walk to the Old Town. I didn't pay much attention to where we docked at St Petersburg as our tour guide met us and dropped us off at the terminal.

I can't really comment on the amount of smokers, the only time I smelt cigarette smoke was near the casino and it wasn't a problem as we were just passing by.

Yes there was a Captains reception which was held in the Centrum, it was entertaining as there was an aerial performance.

I can't think of any secrets as such but if you are as fortunate with the weather as we were the outside area at the rear of the Windjammer is a great place for a bite to eat as you sail away from Stockholm.

Hope that this helps, have a great trip!