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roupa

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    Serenade of the Seas Question

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Just back from 12 day repo cruise...Boston to Ft. Lauderdale on Serenade. We are not rookies...14th cruise, 6th time on this repo.

    As always, RCCL staff was most accommodating, efficient and friendly...no complaints here!! Have rebooked for next year.

    Ship itself needs updating and brightening.

    Cruise director CarlyB worked hard to provide varied entertainment..day and night.

    Casino staff did a good job, tho not as over-the-top enthusiastic as in the past.

    We did not do any specialty dining. My-time dining is our favorite, but still find many guest who do not understand that with "mytime" you still need to schedule a time or expect a short wait if you just "show up".

    For the 1st time ever, we did NOT enjoy most of the food...either in the Windjammer or the main dining room! An unofficial survey found many agreeing with us. Overheard a guest on our bus to the airport that of 30+ cruises, this food was the worst. We have no problem with selections outside our comfort zone, but we do expect our choices to be hot, tender and not sodium overload, ...several chicken dishes were dry and beef dishes, tough. Unfortunately, this reflects on the waitstaff, who, I believe, have no control over of the quality of the food. There were fewer "plain" green vegetables, but more mixed with (tomato) sauces of sorts.

    Enough belly-aching for now, and still looking forward to repo 2017 !

    What do you like most about the brilliance of the seas?

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Off the Brilliance on Nov. 7th. 1st time doing "self assist" with our own bulky luggage. (10th cruise) I will certainly do self assist again! I think the key is, however, to get in line ASAP...we were there at 7AM for the scheduled 8-8:15 disembark time. Delays are often caused by customs doing paper work..which I am actually thankful for! (By 7:45 the long line went thru the Pacifica and outside onto the opposite side on deck 5..I think those folks got a bit impatient, perhaps cranky cuz the vaca was over....but they were still off ship ahead of the general "population"!) We felt comfortable taking turns leaving our "spot" to go outside and watch the pier activity, to go to the rest room, to have coffee juice and pastry in the Pacifica, to sit and relax in the Pacifica. I am sure we could have gone to the WJ for more "to-go" food, but didn't want to fight the crowd there. Once off the ship we passed by all the luggage waiting to be claimed and went straight to customs. Much smoother than the inevitable chaos of passengers searching for their belongings...tho it seemed neatly organized by numbers. The only thing some may find to be a downside is that we were required to have "one hand free" to hold on while on the escalator, otherwise we needed to take the elevator down to the terminal...which took several passengers, and luggage, at a time, but obviously not everybody at once!

    Just relax for the last hour of your vacation ...pay attention and follow instructions !

     

    Love the intimate size of the ship. Captain and Cruise director were great!

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